MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education, is hoping to improve its assistance services for students experiencing bullying, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said on Thursday.
In a Palace briefing, Poa said that the education department is trying to address bullying in the country after the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) cited it as a factor for low competency levels among students.
“We will continue not only to improve our advocacy side on bullying; we will continue to improve our reporting side on bullying,” said Poa.
Poa said that a DepEd helpline (#8632-1372) has been operational since 2022 and have resolved 120 concerns.
“Kanina natanong po tayo kung mayroon ba tayong hotline so that makes me feel that the department is not doing enough to really push itong hotline issue natin/reporting system natin so, that is something you can expect DepEd to improve on,” said Poa.
(We were asked if we have a hotline so that makes me feel that the department is not doing enough to really push this hotline issue/ reporting system, so that is something you can expect DepEd to improve on.)